Banana, bacon, and pecan pancakes

There are many ways to say I love you, and in my family, some folks have decided that pancakes are the way to show they care.

First there was my grandfather, who you’d find every Saturday flipping fat fluffy pancakes stuffed with blueberries and pecans. Then there’s my uncle and his famous Mexican pancakes, a concoction so outrageous that he’s been known to travel with a special skillet that’s used especially for these large pancakes loaded with pineapple and coconut. My brother has also taken to making pancakes, and on Christmas morning the family visited in the kitchen as he made stack after stack after stack.

Pancakes and love have been on my mind this week, as it’s not only the first week of Lent but Valentine’s Day is happening, too.

Shrove Tuesday, which in England is known as Pancake Tuesday, is that last hurrah before Lent begins. Of course, Shrove Tuesday is also known as Mardi Gras. And growing up in Houston, which is close to Galveston and New Orleans, two places rich with Mardi Gras traditions, I always felt a little strange spending that particular Tuesday hanging out in my church’s parish hall eating pancakes instead. A few years ago, however, some British friends of mine were adamant about celebrating Shrove Tuesday and we emptied our refrigerators and pantries and came up with all sorts of crazy pancakes, both savory and sweet. It might not have been a parade down Bourbon Street, but it was still pretty wild.

The spirit of that evening lived on recently, as I found myself with too many bananas. While my first thought was to make banana bread, I decided that banana pancakes sounded far superior. And as I was already frying up some bacon, I figured I’d chuck a few pieces of it into the batter. Then a little research lead me to a Bon Appetit recipe for a caramel banana topping, which I dolled up with even more bacon along with some fresh pecans for a bit of crunch, too.

Sweet, smoky, salty, and nutty. These are tremendous pancakes. You could certainly eat a stack on Shrove Tuesday and feel like you’ve indulged quite a bit. Though they also make for a fine special day breakfast. And whoever is lucky enough to eat them will know immediately how you feel, as these banana, bacon, and pecan pancakes are a perfect way to show you care.

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Banana, bacon, and pecan pancakes

Servings4

AuthorLisa Fain

Ingredients

Ingredients for the topping:

1/2cupunsalted butter

1cupbrown sugar

1/2cupwater

1teaspoonvanilla extract

1/4teaspooncinnamon

2bananas, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds

1/2cuppecans

4slicescooked bacon, crumbled

Salt

Ingredients for the pancakes:

2cupsall-purpose flour

1tablespoonbaking powder

2tablespoonsgranulated sugar

1/4teaspoonkosher salt

1 1/2cupsbuttermilk

1large egg beaten

1/4cupvegetable oil

1teaspoonvanilla extract

1banana, peeled and mashed

2slicescooked bacon, crumbled

1tablespoonbutter, room temperature, divided

Instructions

To make the topping, in a pot, on medium heat melt the butter, brown sugar, and water. When it comes to a boil, after about a minute, continue to boil for 1-2 more minutes or until it’s slightly thicker and syrupy. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla, cinnamon, bananas, pecans, and bacon. Add a sprinkle of salt to taste.

For the pancakes, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Beat together the buttermilk, egg, vanilla, and oil and pour into the flour mixture. Add the mashed banana and crumbled bacon, and stir until a thick batter is formed.

Preheat the oven to 200°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Heat a skillet on medium and add a dab of the softened butter to the skillet to grease it. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the skillet and cook for a about 2 minutes on one side, until the edges are slightly set and bubbles begin to form in batter. Gently flip the pancake and cook on the other side a couple more minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Place cooked pancake in the oven, and continue for the rest of the batter, adding a dab of butter to grease the skillet when necessary.

To serve, stack 3-4 pancakes on each plate and cover with the topping.

Bongostella–Please accept my apologies, but this blogging platform doesn't offer an easy solution for printing recipes. Until I figure out something, in the meantime for printing you can highlight the recipe and then cut and paste into a word processing program or when you go to print you can choose to only print the page that has the recipe.

What a Show Stopper! I had bacon waffles at Bacon in Austin recently and they were good but they just threw some sliced bananas on top. LAME. This is how it should be done! Sweet, salty, caramelized – yes ma'am!!

My hubbs loves PECANS oy vey, I will make these up always having some PECANS in the freezer that and CASHEWS…I am gonna make ree drumonds chicken roll ups i just took a look at her recipe and I have the ingredients..I used to do lent when I went to the rc church left it when I was 18 joined the episcopal, married a jewish man and I pray daily but no church affiliation at all, I think karma is the thing, and buddhism, what you throw out into the universe so shall you get..Peaceful loving thoughts to you in NYC our only child lives there loves it a lot..gets to the west coast a lot, but is in love with AUSTIN, texas wants to live there permanently if she can find film work..she is single so she only thinks in her terms..love AUSTIN myself, it is hot and lovely and creative..Love your blog, it is so neat.Love the recipes and your thoughts on your family and Texas..never get the Texas out of yourself it is a really beautiful state, i think because the sun is always shining someplace and the blue skies make a person feel really alive and certain places have the prettiest wildflowers I have ever witnessed and something about southern hospitality that cannot be beat..ciao!!!!!!!!!!

These pictures are making me drool! I might just have to make these this weekend (I tend not to like bacon in sweet desserts–I know–so I might have to leave out that part, but you've almost convinced me)

I've been making this topping of yours for weeks now–we've had it on pancakes, crepes, French toast, and ice cream. I'm having a dinner party next week, and I'm serving this! I've never made a caramel sauce so successful before–thanks!

Pancake Pantry in Tennessee has an unbelievable variety of pancakes. I had my first sweet potato pancakes there and fell in love with brown sugar syrup. I have a couple of ripe bananas, may just whip these up.

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